defense will be fine

[JMassie11 1,588]

the dbs where in the right spots all night just playing a soft zone...it was just a pretty base defense all night so i dont understand why people are so worked up....remember arky state has been preparing to pull out all the stops since spring time....the only concerns i have are the fumble problems continueing with fannin although he looked great in open space and i wish that we would have seen a few more mid range passes from cam to see how his accuracy is there but glad  he didnt force any passes but great game and war eagle

[around4ever 4,136]

I agree 100% about the defense.  Fannin got the crap knocked out of him on his fumble by two defenders at full speed.  If you didn't notice, it was a major collision.  I will give him the benefit of the doubt on that one.  As for seeing more midrange passes.  Why show it to our future opponents?  We will see more on Thursday but still only enough for the "W". 

War Eagle!!

[AUCE05 369]

My only concern is we where in the "bend don't break" crap we did last year and I hate that D philosophy.  If we pull the same crap against Moo St., I'll be concerned for the year. 

[around4ever 4,136]

My only concern is we where in the "bend don't break" crap we did last year and I hate that D philosophy.  If we pull the same crap against Moo St., I'll be concerned for the year.   

Yes, in the first half.  What would you do if you had no idea what the opponents offense was going to do??  After we saw what their plan was the adjustments were made and the D was fine. 

[walker77 0]

My only concern is we where in the "bend don't break" crap we did last year and I hate that D philosophy.  If we pull the same crap against Moo St., I'll be concerned for the year.   

Yes, in the first half.  What would you do if you had no idea what the opponents offense was going to do??  After we saw what their plan was the adjustments were made and the D was fine. 

Playing it safe with the intent of not giving up the big play until we figured out their O system really makes sense!

[AUCE05 369]

My only concern is we where in the "bend don't break" crap we did last year and I hate that D philosophy.  If we pull the same crap against Moo St., I'll be concerned for the year.   

Yes, in the first half.  What would you do if you had no idea what the opponents offense was going to do??  After we saw what their plan was the adjustments were made and the D was fine. 

That's why I'm not jumping off a cliff until I see the Miss St. game.  My gut feeling is Roof just gave them the short pass and was protecting against the deep ball.  I'm hoping our D steps up because with our O and the improved special teams, we really could make a run at the SEC title this year. 

ETA:

Add Stevens to the mix and we improve.  Did Coach say why he was out? 

[around4ever 4,136]

My only concern is we where in the "bend don't break" crap we did last year and I hate that D philosophy.  If we pull the same crap against Moo St., I'll be concerned for the year.   

Yes, in the first half.  What would you do if you had no idea what the opponents offense was going to do??  After we saw what their plan was the adjustments were made and the D was fine. 

That's why I'm not jumping off a cliff until I see the Miss St. game.  My gut feeling is Roof just gave them the short pass and was protecting against the deep ball.  I'm hoping our D steps up because with our O and the improved special teams, we really could make a run at the SEC title this year. 

ETA:

Add Stevens to the mix and we improve.  Did Coach say why he was out? 

They set forth expectations for the players on the field and off the field.  He did not meet those expectations.  So, no, we don't know why he was out and will not know why he was out.

[auskull 239]

Run Defense was good, very good and will improve when players get back. Pass defense left something to be desired. This team should not have been able to be in the game in the first half and then drive 27 yards to open the 3rd qtr when they are still in the game.

[weegleweegle 0]

To all the critics out there:

I remember a looooong time ago (1972) - Coach Jordan was the coach.  Auburn beat Chattanooga like 10-6 in the opening game.  That season turned out very well - best I remember!!!!!!!!!! 

[tiger241345162816 0]

I am withholding my final judgment, but my thoughts on Roof since his hire have progessed from "wait and see/benefit of the doubt" to "you better start proving me wrong because I don't think you are very good."  I'll give him another week or two to see improvement before I go completely negative on him.  Just my two cents. 

[312234 0]

Defense will be fine.  To those that say it's no better then last year, look at the depth we were playing with last night.  We put lots of young guys out there to get some experience.

Anytime the 2nd & 3rd stringers hold the opponent to under 25 points, that's pretty damn good.  Definitely an improvement from last year.

[around4ever 4,136]

I am withholding my final judgment, but my thoughts on Roof since his hire have progessed from "wait and see/benefit of the doubt" to "you better start proving me wrong because I don't think you are very good."  I'll give him another week or two to see improvement before I go completely negative on him.  Just my two cents.   

Good coaches make adjustments at halftime.  Look at the difference in the first half and the second half.  I'll take CTR.  We will be fine.

[tiger241345162816 0]

I am withholding my final judgment, but my thoughts on Roof since his hire have progessed from "wait and see/benefit of the doubt" to "you better start proving me wrong because I don't think you are very good."  I'll give him another week or two to see improvement before I go completely negative on him.  Just my two cents.   

Good coaches make adjustments at halftime.  Look at the difference in the first half and the second half.  I'll take CTR.  We will be fine.

I hope you are right.  Like I said, I am withholding judgment, but I was hoping to see more improvement against a relatively weak opponent last night.  I just want to see a more aggressive game plan on D, which I hope will lead to more impact plays on D.  Maybe it was just a conservative plan because it was the first game and it was an overmatched opponent, but I would have preferred to see the D come out with the intent of dominating.  Especially since the D was a weak point for us last year.  However, I was overall happy with last night's game.  The offense and special teams exceeded my expectations and the D did not quite meet my expectations.

[Tiger Growlin 0]

What I saw was a defense trying to figure out the offense in the first half. The pass rush was much improved. The run defense was pretty good. What allowed ASU to move the ball was the short out routes they kept throwing. The DBs weren't playing press coverage which allowed the underneath passes. I'll give them that. Overall the defense did a pretty good job of getting off the field on 3rd down. They blitzed often and there was a lot of shifting up front right before the snap. The second half the defense had made the necessary adjustments and shut the door on ASU. After the two early fumbles deep in our own territory the defense stood tall and didn't let them back in the game. I didn't see tired legs as the game went on. The added depth really helped especially because at one point the offense scored 3 tds in less than 90 seconds.

[Tiger Growlin 0]

ASU ran 84 plays for a total of 366 yards. 323 passing and 43 rushing on 35 carries. The ASU starting qb threw 42 passes for 278 yds. I don't think the defense played as bad as most think. ASU took what the D gave them. That's what they're supposed to do. They were 5 of 18 on 3rd down and 1 for 3 on 4th. However they were 4-4 in the redzone.

[FormerlySec38Row34 56]

Having been at the game, the thing that struck me most about the defense was that when Ark St  lined up spread left, there was NO ONE lined up on the slot receiver!!! He had ten yards of clear space before any defender was close to him. They threw 7 or 8 screens to the guy in a row and still no one lined up in front of him. This was why the first half looked so weird. The other part was when we came out in the third quarter, offensive miscues left our defense set up deep on our own territory with a pretty accurate QB throwing good slants and screens. Luckily, our D stiffened after the second fumble and forced a field goal, but Washington's fumble on the kick return at the fifteen really didn't help our D. After the offense got back on track I finally did see coverage on the slot receiver, but I think the coverage was way too soft. Ark St took what we gave them and we gave them too much IMO.

Once the coverage was pressed, the D did a much better job of getting to the QB and shutting them down. That was the adjustment I was looking for.

[kdog0405 7]

I agree totally with Tiger24.  We need to be way more aggressive on D.  For the most part the pass rush was anemic.  If you sit back in a weak zone, offenses like this will kill them.  The old saying is true, defense wins championships.  I just hope that ours improves by Thursday.  

[RockyMtnTiger 0]

I think we played soft for a reason. We didn't have any film of their new O and we were saving legs for the short week game against MSU. Not saying we won't give up yards against MSU, but it will be a more tighter D alot like we saw in the 2nd half. We have a better understanding of MSU O and therefore can make quicker adjustments. I agree we will be fine on D and really when you slam Roof you are slamming Chizik. He is a Defensive guru and has complete confidence in Ted Roof. Based on all the decisions and success Chizik has had thus far I will support CTR.

[AUGRAD86 0]

To all the critics out there:

I remember a looooong time ago (1972) - Coach Jordan was the coach.  Auburn beat Chattanooga like 10-6 in the opening game.

Funny, I was thinking about that game yesterday while I was watching Chattanooga vs. Appy State.  

I am withholding my final judgment, but my thoughts on Roof since his hire have progessed from "wait and see/benefit of the doubt" to "you better start proving me wrong because I don't think you are very good."  I'll give him another week or two to see improvement before I go completely negative on him.  Just my two cents.

 

I am going with this. Was not impressed with the defense last night. We cannot win a championship with defensive play like that. I am a firm believer that we cannot and will not see a Pat Dye style defense as long as we are running this type of offense. I guess you have to decide which one you think will take you to the promised land: A high octane Big 12 style offense or the old Dye-Tubberville style defenses.  I guess we will see.  It would be nice to have both on the same team, but we don't and maybe it's unrealistic to expect to. Hoping to see improvement on defense this week against Miss. State.

[au-wareagle 0]

Our defense will not be fine as long as Roof keeps his philosophy. We have no excuse this year. We have talent, depth, and experince on D. Arky State ran the same exact play nearly 20 times last night and Roof couldnt pick up on it. It was that bubble screen/short curl out. When you give opposing recievers 10-15 yards cushion you are going to give up those plays. Roof's philoshopy is "who cares how many yards you give up just don't give up points" which is stupid because we all know when you give up yards you give up points. If Roof does this against MSU we very well might lose. MSU put up 49 points on Memphis which was more than I thought they were capable of. We need more blitzes and Roof needs to quit dropping the linebackers back.

[FormerlySec38Row34 56]

I've never been a fan of soft defensive play. Even if you don't give up points, you keep your offense starting in worse field position. That can cause problems if you turn around and have a three and out. I liked it when the D came up and covered tight, which forced the opposing offense to hurry the play or change on the fly. That  is a hard thing to do, for the most part.

[Rickys Rants 0]

Our defense played 'not to lose' instead of playing to win.  We would give up a 5-7 yard gain to prevent a big play.  Sooner or later we need to 'man up' and play tight D.  We might give up some long plays, but our D will get better or we will need a new coordinator next season.